truth revealed: what is it?

in search of a new colleague

a colleague is to leave the school

for the greenness of the pastures that call to him,

some of us are tasked with a search

for who would fit into the learning world we already have,

for who would help us evolve into being even better

at being there with our students,

and helping all reach toward whatever excellence is possible,

we search for a rubric

within which we can judge candidates sight unseen,

then invite promising candidates to visit us online

and answer questions we hope will elucidate

the light and the darkness within them,

still the gestalt of who each of us is,

and who each of them is,

drives us with the emotional figuring

that trumps our rationality,

we live with a sense of what we like,

and what we don’t,

even with what annoys us,

on paper some wow, and some don’t,

in person, some wow, and some don’t,

though in both paper and virtual connection,

each of us is still human,

and thumbs up or down is visceral,

each of us is driven,

and it would be great to know what is driving us,

personas can impress,

but unless they are real to the person beneath,

they may not show us 

who the teacher would be in class

or with colleagues,

I feel very good about who I am with my students,

with how well I can see them,

with how well I can meet them where they are,

with how well I can help them move forward,

God may not play dice with the universe,

but I cannot help but fear

that the kind of search we are conducting

would not have found me, 

and chosen me,

I fear how much it all is a crapshoot,

though I want the die to come up winning,

whomever we choose, and who chooses us,

is more of hope than of surety,

truth may be continually revealed,

yet how do we know what is the truth,

and what is not?

by Henry H. Walker
May 1, ‘20